Ishbalan War Survivors
by Sleeping Wolf
Summary: There are two new state alchemists. One with blonde hair and blue eyes, the other is...well thats a surprise! one's older then Ed and the other one is younger...so why does he feel like he has to babysit both? please read i promise it will be good
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

The tears blinded her eyes as she ran down the road. The sound of explosions followed her as she ran, as she tried to get away. The death of her family kept replaying over and over in her mind. The building behind her exploded and dirt fell upon her but she kept running. People screamed behind her in agony and fear. Another explosion sounded and suddenly everything lay quiet. The screaming had stopped. She looked around her as she ran trying to find someone, anyone. But the only thing she could see were the destroyed houses of her village and the bodies of people she had once known. She pushed herself to run harder, maybe; just maybe if she could reach the field, everything would be ok. She looked ahead trying to see the field in the distance. Her heart skipped a beat. Someone in a blue uniform was standing at the end of the street. She abruptly turned left and ran as hard as she could. She had to put some distance between herself and those monsters. After running for a couple of minutes she decided to turn right. Now she was going in the direction of the field again. She could just barely see the green at the end of the village, which was the field, when the house in front of her blew to pieces. With no time to move out of the way she screamed and ducked down, putting her hands over her head. The mud and rock crashed above her and around her. One hit her in the head and she fell unconscious. Blood seeped from her head as she lay motionless.

"Hey look, someone yelled, there's a little girl over here! I think she's still alive!" A man in a blue uniform ran over and helped move the rocks in the pile out of the way. There indeed was a little girl. She had tan skin, black hair, and couldn't have been more than six years old. He kneeled down beside her and felt for a pulse on her wrist and was relieved to find one, however faint it was. He stood up, trying not to show his relief, and told the soldier who had found her to immediately take her to the medical tent. Soon the little girl was on her way to recuperation. The man looked off in the other direction as his partner carried away the young girl. "_That's only the second survivor we've found in three days,_" he thought. "I wonder what they're going to do with the two of them," he voiced aloud. He turned around and headed back toward camp. It was time to call off the search. This had been the last area to look for survivors in. He walked over to the medical tent and took a peek inside. The baby girl they had found yesterday was asleep in her wooden crib. The black-haired girl was lying on the bed, still unconscious, getting checked over by their female nurse. The nurse sighed and took off her stethoscope. "It looks like she may have some brain damage. I don't think she'll be able to remember who she is or what happened. Other then that she should be fine as long as she wakes up soon so we can get some food into her. "How's the baby?" he asked. "She's doing fine. It's a good thing she's so young, she'll probably be able to have a normal life." "How old do you think she is?" he asked. "Just about five months is my guess. She can't be any older then that, look how small she is." Oh, I see, so what's going to happen to them? Have we received any orders on what to do with survivors?" Well we had instructions on what to do with any grownup survivors. I guess they didn't expect any of the children to live through this." "Ok, well see that you find out what to do with them as soon as possible. I'm going to go call off the search. It's time to prepare to head home. We're done here." With that he turned around and left.

Outside the tent he stopped to talk one of his comrades and with that done he went to check how many search parties were still out looking. The only ones still looking were group C and F. One of them was north from camp and the other a little ways east. He headed toward the one in the east first, only to find them already on their way home. There were six of them covered in blood. There was an odd stillness in their manner and their faces were grim. "What happened?" he asked suddenly concerned. "There was a building..," one of the men stammered. "We went to go see if anyone might have stayed in there for refuge. We opened the door and there was a sickening smell of dried blood. Nonetheless we decided to check anyway. We searched for a couple of minutes and a couple of us thought we heard something in one of the rooms. But when we went to go check…" the man shuddered and couldn't continue.

"What? What happened? What did you see?"

"Children," one of the other men whispered. "Little ones. Some probably not even old enough to crawl yet. They were lying everywhere,"

"Well why didn't you bring them back with you? Where are they? How could you leave them," he asked not understanding what could have spooked his men so bad.

"They weren't alive sir," he whispered in a voice that was barely audible. "They were all dead. Like someone had put them in their and just killed them for no reason. There was blood on the walls and on the ceiling and it was flooding the floor. The smell was sickening, but we looked through it all. Hoping that there was at least one child left that was capable of still saving. We found one, a little boy. Probably not even nine years old. He was huddled under the body of a girl. When we went to pick him up he screamed... All we could see in his eyes were pain and fear, and when we lifted the body of the girl…" he shuddered.

"There was a pole going through his stomach," his soldiers continued. "The little boy whimpered. Blood was still freely flowing from his wounds. Then all of a sudden he went limp, and when we checked there wasn't a pulse. It…It was horrible. Who could've done such a thing? They were just children. Tears steamed down his face. What should we do sir?"

The general stood there for a little while and then told his men to head back to camp. It was time to go home. "Yes sir," the group answered weakly with a salute. Then they continued on their way. He stood there alone for a second before heading north. Hoping that his other group had not found something as gruesome as that. About five minuets later he neared a group of torn down buildings. This was where the last group was supposed to be searching. Everything was deathly silent and the general was about to leave, figuring that the group was already on the way back, when someone screamed out. The general turned and ran in the direction of the screamed. Ahead of him he could see one of his soldiers on the ground. He went to help him up when he noticed the blood around him. He backed up in fear and ran to the right. Where were the rest? Suddenly just ahead of him there they were, all on the ground and all dead. The general stood there in shock, and then he turned around. Standing there was a man. There was a flash of light and the general fell over next to his men dead, but not before hoping that the little girls back at the camp were ok…


	2. The First Test

**A/N**: Well it seems a few people like it so far…so I'm happy! Yay! Thanks to my reviewers!

**Disclaime**r: I unfortunately do not own any of the FMA cast…. T-T…but one day in my wildest of fantasies…I will!

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_**Chapter 1**_

"What do you think Mustang wants this time?" Edward asked as he sat on the train that would take them back to Central. "I don't know," Al responded. "But it has to be important since he wanted us there so soon. Hey, do you think they found us some more information on the philosopher's stone?"

"I doubt it; you know they wouldn't tell us even if they did. Everything we've found out is because we took the time to look it up. Mustang wouldn't start helping us now. It's not like him," Ed replied.

"Yea I guess you're right. What do you think he wants brother?"

"I don't know but it better be important. I don't feel like wasting my time when we could find out something new about the stone anytime now."

"Brother?"

"Yes Al?"

"Do you really think we will be normal again someday?"

"Of course I do Al. Want kind of question is that? I made you a promise to bring you back your body. I'm not going to give up now. Just don't lose hope in me ok? You're all I've got,"

"But brother, you know that's not true. We have Winry and Grandma Pinako. They care about us too"

"Yea, we do. Sorry Al I guess I forgot. It's just…never mind."

Al looked at his brother. He knew exactly what was going on in his mind. He decided not to worry about it though. Knowing Ed, he would never give up on looking for the stone. He would do anything he could to get them their bodies back. Al sighed. He just wished Ed wasn't so stubborn all the time. He never wanted to talk about how he felt. He sighed. Maybe something good would actually happen when they went to central. He looked out the window at the passing landscape. They would be there soon. He looked at his brother; he was looking out the window too. Suddenly Ed's stomach growled. He looked at Al sheepishly. "I haven't eaten in forever. Sometimes I think you've got it made easier then me. You don't have to worry about being hungry." Al looked down sadly.

"I can't help it brother…"

"Oh, no Al I didn't mean it like that. It's perfectly fine. I just meant that it would be nice to not be hungry all the time."

"I know exactly what you meant brother, and it's not great at all. I hate that I can't taste or feel anything anymore it's awful! How much longer am I going to be stuck like this! I hate it!" Al screamed.

Ed looked down at the floor. His voice was shaking. "I'm sorry Al. I really am. I'm trying as hard as I can too get us both fixed. Do you think I like being like this? Look at me, I know I'm not as bad as you…but I'm suffering too. I swear to you Al, one day we'll have our real bodies back. Even if I die trying. We'll be normal again." Al sighed, suddenly felling guilty for his sudden outburst at his brother. He knew that Ed was trying as hard as he could to get them back to normal. But sometimes…sometimes he couldn't help but feel that it would never happen. They had been looking for the philosopher's stone for six years now. All the clues that they had ever had had ended up in false chases and fake stones. His brother had come close to making one but in the end the prospect of using live people for their needs was wrong. They had long since been trying to find an easier way to make a stone or find one that had already been made. There had been many ups and down along the journey and they were both lucky to still be alive. Scar had long since left the brothers to their own and had dedicated himself to killing only those alchemists who were still alive from the Ishbalan War and that did not severely regret what they had done. Unluckily for them, as Ed put it, Scar wasn't after Mustang anymore. Al knew he didn't mean it though. Despite the fact that the two didn't get along Ed and him both knew they wouldn't be where they were if it wasn't for him. Al sighed as the train came to a stop. They were finally at Central.

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"Do you really think they'll like us?" A little girl with blonde hair asked timidly.

"Of course they will, her sister replied, Uncle wouldn't have sent for them if he thought that they wouldn't get along with us."

"Yea I guess you're right. It's going to be so cool seeing him in person,"

"Yea I know, I hope he's cute," she said cheerfully.

The younger one sighed. Her sister was so typical. She'd been obsessing over meeting him since their uncle had told them he was coming. She herself was just content to have been able to pass the test. She smiled as she thought about the day they got certified. It seemed so long ago.

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**Two days earlier…** (So much for 'long ago' huh?)

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**Test #1**

"Wow sis! I can't believe were actually here!" a young blonde child had replied as they stood in front of the head quarters for the state alchemists. "Do you think I'll be able to pass the test? I've been studying really hard and...and..."

"Don't worry about it, of course you'll pass. You and I have studied really hard, and there's no way we won't pass. Do you think I'll be able to pass?"

The younger sis had started laughing and her sister had stared at her uneasily. "What's so funny?"

"Come on! Don't be stupid! Of course you're going to pass! You've been studying longer then I have! The only thing I would be worried about was uncle stopping us. You know he doesn't want us to be "dogs" of the military like he is."

"Yea, good point, hopefully by the time he sees us it will already be too late. This is the only chance we have until next year so let's make it count ok?"

"Ok!"

They had walked into the building side by side and to the front desk. "Where do we go to sign up to take the test to become state alchemists?" they had asked politely. The lady at the desk had pointed down the hall without looking up and the girls walked to down the hall until they came to the door labeled 'STATE ALCHEMIST TESTING'. They had soundlessly walked into the room and sat down among over a hundred other people. The room looked very much like the rooms you would find in a college, built kind of like risers. A couple of people snickered as they took they're seats where the white test sheets were already sitting quietly on the desks with their sharpened number two pencils. Apparently they found it funny that too young girls thought they could join the military. The snickering as silenced as a man walked through the door. It seemed as if everyone knew who he was, and of course they did. Who wouldn't know the fuhrer? He was the top boss in the military. "On the count of three you may flip over the sheet in front of you and begin your testing. Please be reminded that you will have only two hours to complete the test, and that cheating is not allowed. If caught you will be immediately be thrown out. Also remember that we only let in one or two alchemists a year and that you will be completing two more tests upon passing this one. If you fail we encourage you to study more and come back again next year. Now please before to begin your test. 1, 2, 3 go!" There was a great rustling of paper as everyone flipped over their test and got started. After that the only thing heard was the scribbling of pencil on paper and the occasional eraser as it rubbed across the paper to erase any obscene marks that the spot had once held a wrong answer. If you had studied the room a little closer you would have seen two, apparently young looking, girls in the room full of older males. Staring intently at their papers and scribbling away. Their brows creased in concentration.

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Two hours had passed and a majority of the people were still furiously pouring over their tests. A bell was heard as the fuhrer stood from the desk he had been sitting at. "The test is over. Please leave your tests on the desks and exit through the door. We will call you in an hour after we have graded all of your tests," Chairs scraped against the floor as the room emptied out. The two girls calmly walked outside and took a seat on the steps in front of the building. The younger one let out a relieved sigh and leaned against her sister. "So how do you think you did, the older one asked, I think I did alright; it was hard to tell some of it from the other. There were so many questions, and all those alchemic equations didn't help either,"

"Yea, it was pretty hard for me, I barely finished as the bell rang,"

"Let's just hope we pass. I guess we'll just sit here and rest until they call us back inside. I need it anyway. That test was really tiring."

The older sister was just closing her tired eyes to ponder over the test when she felt someone push her from behind. She hesitated for a second but the immediate instinct to place her hands in front of her saved her from a tumble down the steps. She looked behind her with venom in her eyes to find two guys behind, her holding her sister. "Let her go," she said slowly. Her voice was quaking in anger. "Why should we?" The first guy said yanking back on her sister's hair. He was kind of tall and probably in his mid twenties. He had brown spiky hair and taunting brown eyes. His friend was of the same stature. He had spiked blonde hair and bright green eyes. She would've have slapped both of them to wipe the smirks off their faces if the hadn't had her sister. "We just want to have some fun. You kids don't really think you're going to pass that test do you?"

"Of course we do you jerk! Why do you think we're here? Not let go of my sister!"

"Why should I? It's not like I have any good reason too. What are you going to do? Yell for help? You're both to young to be here, especially the little one," he said roughly pushing her forward.

She slammed right into her sister and they both rolled down the steps. The older one landed unconscious on the ground. The younger one, who was cushioned from the fall by her sister, stood up and faced them, taking a couple steps toward the stairs. Tears stung at her eyes and there was warm blood trickling down her arm from the cut on her shoulder. The guys were laughing so hard that they didn't have time to notice what she was doing. There was a flash of bright light and they were up in the air in the blink of an eye. The landed noisily behind the two girls and groans were heard. They both shakily stood up and turned toward. Frightened by the anger in their eyes she dropped the scrap of paper with her alchemic sign on it. They stomped toward her and she barely had time to cringe when the punches flew. One landed straight in her stomach and she gasped for breath. The second landed squarely in her face. She fell back, the tears flowing freely now. They were both about to land a couple of kicks on her when there was a flash of light. Both guys were immediately stuck in a metal cage. She looked up at the stairs to see her uncle standing there. "May I ask what's going on here?" he said calmly but angrily. Seeing that they were now safe she ran over to her sister who was now groggily awakening and hugged her. Her sobs racking into her sister shoulder, leaving a wet spot of blood and tears on her shirt, as she explained what had just happened. They both turned at the sound of there uncle's angry voice.

"What kind of spoiled kids are you, picking on a young girl like that? We do not accept people like you here! I suggest you get the hell out of here before I decide to do something worse then what's already been done!"

"Yes sir," the guys mumbled as they walked away, their faces red with anger and humiliation. But nothing could compare to the anger on their uncle's face when he turned around. A new fear enveloped in the two girls. They were in for it now. "What the hell are you guys doing here, he bellowed, you guys are supposed to be back at your house doing…doing something! What in the world possessed you to come here?" The girls bravely stood and the older was the first to speak. "Well, we came to take the test…,"

"But...But I told you girls...I said that..," his voice faltered in his anger.

"Before you yell at us you should know that this is something we really want to do and no matter what, you're not going to be able to stop us. Besides…, she said her voice barely a whisper, we already took the test; we're just waiting for the results..."

Their uncle stood there staring at the two of them unable to get the words out of his mouth. They stood there for what felt like hours, though it was probably just a couple minutes, before he noticeably calmed down. He sighed and looked at the two girls. It seemed to the girls, though they knew better, that he was looking at them for the first time. He sighed again. He hadn't realized how much they had matured since he was entrusted with them. It had been so many years ago but he still saw them as nothing but a couple children. He had to realize he wasn't in control here anymore. "You better go…they're going to announce who passed the test very soon,"

Tears formed in the older girl's eyes as she ran forward and gave her uncle a hug. Her younger sister was right behind her. "I love you Uncle," they both whispered. He laughed, "Come on, you guys know I don't like for you guys to go soft on me," They all laughed. Two minutes later the crackle of the speaker was heard as they called everyone back in for the test results. Both girls felt their stomachs flutter. Had they passed? Well they were about to find out. They went running back up the stairs and into the building. They headed straight back to the classroom they had been in an hour before and sat in the back row. The fuhrer was standing in front of them with a white paper in his hand. "As soon as I call your name I would like you to step outside and wait in the lobby. I will be there shortly to have a talk with you," The girls looked at each other and crossed their fingers. _Here it goes_, they both thought. The names started being called in no particular order. "Calder Tabansi, Laith Tamal, and so on and so on….Aaralyn Nachmanke, and a couple minutes later, Naida Nachmanke," Both girls sat there in shock. They had been called to wait outside. _We didn't make it,_ Aaralyn thought. She stood up and walked with her sister to the exit. She nearly burst into tears when she sat down in one of the many chairs in the lobby. But she held them back. She couldn't cry, at least not now, not in front of all these guys. She sighed and looked at her sister. She had a grim expression on her face. A couple more people came to wait in the lobby and it wasn't too long before the fuhrer was there too. "A-hmn, he said clearing his throat, I would just like to thank you all for coming to take the test…"

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**A/N**-... well…is that considered a cliffy? Lol I have no idea…well I would like to again say thank you to my reviewers. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me….well until next time…bye!

Please review!


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